


Fate Misnamed

by FarFromHeroic



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Miscommunication, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 15:50:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12084258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FarFromHeroic/pseuds/FarFromHeroic
Summary: Two lovers collide in a way neither expected.





	Fate Misnamed

          The kettle’s shrill whistle resounded through the silence of the room.

          A figure moved towards the stove, fixing her tea just right, dark but sweet. She spared a glance at the clock as she sat herself down at the table, one that hadn't been used for dinner in months. _8:47. Late again._

          Across the table, an untouched plate of food cooled. She sighed for a moment, staring at the dinner she’d spent over an hour preparing after her shift at the hospital. Texting him would prove fruitless. He would just send her another text reading, “I'm working late,” or “I'll be home later.” She opened up her latest novel to the correct page and settled in for the wait, lost in the world between the covers of the book.

          Two hours passed.

          She had finished her book a couple minutes ago. Checking her phone, she saw nothing of interest. Not a single word from him yet. With a huff, she stood and placed the novel on a stack with the others. _That's the third one this week,_ she lamented. Grabbing the plate, the woman dumped its contents in the garbage and nearly threw the plate into the sink.

          She walked into the bedroom and began packing the rest of her things.

          She would not sleep in the apartment that night.

~ x ~

          He sat back in his old desk chair staring at his laptop, satisfied with his work. It took hours, days, and weeks of overtime for him to earn enough money. Hopefully, his girlfriend wasn't growing too suspicious.

          “Aren't you done yet? It's been hours.”

          Whipping around, he glared at his co-worker, though there was no real heat behind it. “As a matter of fact, I _am_ finished. Now, I can get out of this damned cubicle.”

          “You actually gonna go home to your girlfriend for once?”

          He gave a bit of a snort. “Where else would I go? Everything is ready for her, and I’ve worked enough to pay off the ring. Now I've just got to wait until the time is right.”

          “Just don't wait too long, man.”

          While the words sounded ominous, he couldn’t help but shrug it off. His co-worker had always been cynical anyway.

~ x ~

          Her suitcases were in the trunk of her car by midnight. She had been planning this for weeks, when the long hours, sketchy excuses, and paltry reassurances started out of the blue. She planned it all out with a friend; where to stay and with whom. _Just in case,_ she had told herself then. Now, she wouldn't stand for it. Not one bit.

          Tears streamed down her cheeks silently as she sat in the driver's seat. It had been almost three years. She'd allowed herself to think that he could be the one. _And look where it's gotten you._

          Pausing before she pulled into the street, she watched the rain race down the glass of her windshield with bloodshot eyes. Leaving, she passed street after street until she had to stop for a red light.

          As the light turned green, she took off across the intersection. A pair of blinding headlights shone through the rain, far too close. In the next moment, all she could see was black.

~ x ~

          He sped through the streets, anxious to return home. To be able to shower and crawl into bed next to the only woman he had ever loved.

          The rain made the roads slippery, but in his hurry, recklessness took over. The next stoplight was already yellow, but he was reluctant to stop when he was so close to home. The rain poured down harder as he tried to slow, begrudgingly. The light was red now, but his brakes weren't doing anything.

          Terrified, he only saw the reflection of his headlights as the car slid into the intersection and slammed into another car at nearly fifty miles per hour.

~ x ~

          Nearly fifteen minutes later, the police arrived at the corner of 14th and Main to investigate the scene. The drivers’ broken bodies were pulled from the mangled steel remains of the two cars.

          The man carried one ring in his suit pocket, and there was luggage in the woman's trunk.


End file.
